07 January,2016 01:08 PM IST | | A correspondent
Deported gangster Chhota Rajan was produced before a special MCOCA court here via video conference from Tihar Jail in connection with journalist J Dey murder case of 2011
Deported gangster Chhota Rajan was on Thursday produced before a special MCOCA court here via video conference from Tihar Jail in connection with journalist J Dey murder case of 2011.
Chhota Rajan
Special Judge A L Pansare, on December 22, had issued a production warrant against the 54-year-old asking him to appear before it on January 7. When asked to spell out his name, Rajan told the judge, "My name is Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje." Judge Pansare then explained the J Dey case to him and later took him into custody. The entire conversation between Rajan and the judge went on in Marathi.
"The court told him that the next date of the case is January 19, when charges will be framed against him," Special Public Prosecutor Dileep Shah said. Rajan also told the court that he doesn't have any lawyer in Mumbai and is looking for one.
The judge also reprimanded the Mumbai Police for not serving the copy of the chargesheet to Rajan. "Why not yet ? What are you waiting for....why are you waiting for an order for everything ? the judge said.
Later, he passed an order directing the police to serve the copy of chargesheet. Rajan, a former key aide and lieutenant of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, was arrested at Bali airport in Indonesia on October 25 after he arrived from Australia, and was later deported to India.
Of the 74 cases the Mumbai police has transferred to the CBI, the central agency registered its second case against Rajan - the J Dey murder case. The first case was about a fake passport the gangster was using during his stay in Australia.
The CBI has demanded that one court should deal with all of Chhota Rajan's cases in the city. Earlier it was reported that in spite of the special MCOCA court's warrant to Tihar Jail to produce Chhota Rajan for the hearing, Mumbai Police and Crime Branch were yet to be notified whether Rajan aka Sadashiv Nikalje will be transferred from Delhi to Mumbai and what kind of protection should be provided.
